[UK]
Fire chief Paul back from hols as Jessica
A FIRE station chief amazed colleagues by changing sex while on holiday.
Paul Canning, 45, returned from a five-week break wearing make-up and a wig, then said: "Call me Jessica from now on."

[UK]
Cross-dressing ASBO pest released from jail by High Court judge
A cross-dresser with a penchant for Britney Spears-style uniforms has been released from jail after High Court judges said it was wrong to have locked him up for indecent exposure.

[France]
Transgender Givenchy Model Scores Mag Cover
Lea T, a former assistant to Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci who has starred in the label's ads and editorial features in French Vogue, has scored a fashion mag cover in the new issue of Lurve.
Lurve Lea
Lea T, Transsexual Model, Scores Magazine Cover

[Russia]
Embassy rescues two from prostitution
The Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, Russia, rescued two Indonesian citizens who were trapped in a prostitution ring there, an embassy official said.
The Indonesian citizens, told the embassy they were tourists there when they were offered to join transsexual prostitution in Russia. Both of them said they had had a transsexual operation.

[Iran]
Iran's solution to 'gay problem'? State-funded sex change surgery
Mahtab Mirghaderi signals to her husband to leave the interview. “He hates hearing about my life in Iran before we met,” she says. “It makes him too sad and too angry.”
Saleh Shahsaver takes his cigarettes from the coffee table in the lobby of an Ankara hotel and stands out of earshot as his wife, a small 30-year-old woman with thick blonde hair, prominent cheekbones and a delicate figure, shuts her eyes and goes back in time.
Five years ago, when she was living in Tehran, Mirghaderi’s mother gave her $3,000 U.S. for a sex-change operation, a medical procedure they were convinced would solve all of their problems.
(Photo: David Graham/TORONTO STAR - Mahtab Mirghaderi, 30, and husband Saleh Shahsaver, 28, fled Iran three years ago. Mirghaderi was ordered to sever contact with your family after her sex-change operation. Shahsaver was rejected by his family when the pair began dating.)

[India]
Govt aid for sexual minorities
In an affirmative move, the state government has included sexual minorities under backward classes category (2A) to enable them take up vocational training.
India To Offer Eunuchs Special Pension Each Month
Delhi eunuchs to be given pensions

[USA] [Commentary]
Malaysia's First Gay Romance Movie Is Also Horrifically Transphobic
Dubbed Malaysia's first-ever gay film, …Dalam Botol hits theaters in February and tells the story of a gay man who undergoes gender reassignment survey because he thinks his boyfriend will prefer it, but the relationship ends up cratering, and (he) starts hating his now-female body.

[Canada]
N.B. transgendered woman claims assault
A transgendered New Brunswick woman says she was struck in the face at St. Thomas University in Fredericton because she entered a women's washroom.

[Canada]
Mabel League objects to Outgames' trans policy
When Vancouver won the bid to host the 2011 North American Outgames, the fast-pitch softball Mabel League rejoiced and even considered signing up to host its softball tournament.
But the league's enthusiasm fizzled when it came across what it believed to be the Outgames' policy on FtM transgendered players transitioning with testosterone.
In a note to trans athletes, the Outgames 2011 homepage says, "The administration of testosterone would constitute a doping offence."

[USA]
Kye Allums Plays Home Turf This Weekend
After going public last week about being transgender, George Washington University basketball player Kye Allums is playing in his first game in his hometown Saturday since asking to be known as "Kye" instead of "Kiara."

[UT, USA]
It’s Transgender Awareness Month
There is a slew of events in November for Transgender Awareness Month. Transgender is an umbrella term for individuals whose gender identity or expression differs from their birth sex. The term may include people who identify as transsexual or gender queer.

[WA, USA]
Transgender Day of Remembrance, Tacoma, Nov 21st
The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

[WI, USA]
Transgender inmate wants to continue lawsuit
A state prisoner who’s taking hormone treatments to become a woman claims she was coerced into a settlement of her lawsuit, which sought a tax-funded sex change.
Donna Dawn Konitzer – formerly known as Scott Konitzer – suffers from gender-identity disorder, and claims to be a woman stuck in a man’s body.